In the early years
of the 21st Century gvnet.com/streetchildren/Benin.htm

Republic
of Benin

The
economy of Benin remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence
agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Growth in real output
has averaged around 5% in the past seven years, but rapid population growth
has offset much of this increase. Inflation has subsided over the past
several years.[The World Factbook, U.S.C.I.A.
2009]

CAUTION: The following links
and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the
situation in Benin.Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No
attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

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FEATURED ARTICLE ***

Information about Street Children - Benin[DOC]

This report was based on a paper submitted by
Croix Rouge, Service pour le Developpement Integral
de l’Homme, Centre Don Bosco
and Association Francaise des Volontaires
du Progres and is taken from “A Civil Society Forum
for Francophone Africa on Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Street
Children”, 2-5 June 2004, Senegal

At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]

[accessed 21 September 2011]

FACTORS PUSHING
CHILDREN ONTO THE STREETS - low income of families and general poverty of the
social sphere; inadequate education and training opportunities (particularly
for girls); traditional customs such as forced marriages, polygamy and female
genital mutilation; the high number of children per family; the absence of
leisure activities in rural areas and the attractions of city life; the high
demand for child labor in the informal economy; the total impunity of those who
exploit children both economically and sexually, and the difficulty of
applying legislation that is either inadequate or non-existent.

[73] The Committee expresses
its concern at the increasing number of children living, working and begging
in the streets (the talibés), especially in urban
areas, who are also victims of economic and sexual exploitation and at risk
of HIV/AIDS infections.The Committee
is also concerned at the lack of programmes to
address the needs of these children and to protect them.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on
the Rights of the Child (CRC)

[29] While
recognizing the State party's openness to hosting refugees from neighboring
States, the Committee remains concerned at the lack of adequate legal
provisions, policies and programs to guarantee and protect the rights of
refugee, asylum-seeking and unaccompanied children. The Committee recommends
that the State party develop a legislative framework for the protection of
refugee, asylum-seeking and unaccompanied children and implement policies and
programs to guarantee their adequate access to health, education and social
services

Information about Street Children - Benin[DOC]

This report was based on a paper submitted
by Croix Rouge, Service pour le Developpement
Integral de l’Homme, Centre Don Bosco
and Association Francaise des Volontaires
du Progres and is taken from “A Civil Society Forum
for Francophone Africa on Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Street
Children”, 2-5 June 2004, Senegal

At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]

[accessed 21 September 2011]

FACTORS PUSHING
CHILDREN ONTO THE STREETS - low income of families and general poverty of the
social sphere; inadequate education and training opportunities (particularly
for girls); traditional customs such as forced marriages, polygamy and female
genital mutilation; the high number of children per family; the absence of
leisure activities in rural areas and the attractions of city life; the high
demand for child labor in the informal economy; the total impunity of those
who exploit children both economically and sexually, and the difficulty of
applying legislation that is either inadequate or non-existent.

BENIN - An estimated
50,000 are trafficked to nearby countries where they often end up selling
goods on the street.

Plan marks Global Campaign for Education
Action Week

Plan International, Press Release,
19/04/2005

At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]

[accessed 21 September 2011]

BENIN - Throughout the
week 300 children, aged six to 14 from the Couffo
area, in the south of Benin,
will make life-size cardboard cut-outs to represent the shadows of their
friends who do not go to school and send them to President of the Republic,
Mathieu Kerekou. They will also draw up maps
showing the whereabouts of children who are not enrolled in school, and then
each community will use the maps as the basis for making an action plan to
increase school enrolment.

A
Family For Homeless Children In Benin

UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization UNESCO – Grassroots story by SebastienAgboton, President of the Committee for Literacy
and Basic Education in Benin

Benin: a small country
(43,500 sq. mi.) with a big population (6 million), 47 per cent of which is
under the age of 15. Literacy stagnates at around 60 per cent and 40 per cent
of school-age children are not enrolled. Many of these live more and less in
the streets. To help deal with the situation, the Comité
des Activités en éducation
au Bénin (CAEB) has set up a number of homes.

A
Belgian Princess Opens A Home For Benin's Street Kids

FernandAzonnanon
in CotonouBenin,
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC),
15 May 2002

With a 100-bed
dormitory, a dining hall, a library and administrative blocks, street
children of Segbeya district and other poor areas
of Cotonou
now have a place to call home.Children will receive counseling, food and shelter and all efforts
will be made to reunify them with their families. Those who can no longer be
reunited with their families will receive vocational training to ensure
self-sufficiency in their adulthood.